Low height shortwall mining machine



Nov. 24, 1953 Filed April 6, 1945 A. L. LEE

LOW HEIGHT SHORTWALL MINING MACHINE 3 Sheefzs-Sheet 1 INVENTOR., BY AKZTHUQ L. LEE. M ,IKM",

Nov. 24, 1953 A. L. LEE 2,660,418

LOW HEIGHT SHORTWALL MINING MACHINE Filgd April 6, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR; ARTHUR L. LEE,

A TY.

Nov. 24, 1953 A. L. LEE 2,660,418

LOW HEIGHT SHORTWALL MINING MACHINE Filed April 6, 1945 :s Sheets-Sheet a mmvrox. AQ'THUQ L. LEE.

Patented Nov. 24, 1953 UNITED STATES FATE OFFICE LOW HEIGHT SHORTWALLMI'NINGI MACHINE Arthur L. Lee, Upper Arlington,.0hio, assignor; .by'

mesne assignments, to The Jeffrey Manufacturing Company, a corporation of: Ohio Application- April '6', 1945, Serial No. $86,975-

3; Claims.v (Cl. 262-) an-improvedmotor construction for a low height I mining machine in which the parts are so ar ranged that a path is provided for a cutter chain which is generally below the major portion of the motor, but lies in agenerally-horizontal plane which passes through the motor rotor or above a portion of the exposed face of a bottom pole shoe and in a more specific form which also involves apair of field poles which are inclined up-- wardly and outwardly and thusmake an acuteangle with a horizontal plane which preferably passes through the axis ofthe rotor and 'subst'antially through the centers of the faces of the pole shoes for said inclined poles;

Other objects of the inventiin will appear hereinafter, the novel features and combinations be-- ing set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a plan'view of a shortwalr type machine which incorporates the features of my in vention, the cutter bar being shown cut-short;

Fig. 2 is a side" elevational view of-the machine of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3- is a vertical sectional" viewof the rear portion of the machine, taken substantially through the center thereof; showing particularly the machinery frame compartment with the gummer removed, some parts being eliminatediin the interest of clearness; and

Fig. 4 is a combination front elevational viewof themining machine showing an extension of the-cutter bar support and cutter chain insection and a transverse section-- through the motor of said mining machine.

Referring particularly to the drawings and to-the shortwall machinewhich is therein dis.

tothev end that it may be. used in very low seam mines.

Referring-first to Figs: 1" and 2 of the drawings, the machine includesra main frame 40 which in I practice is'preferablyformed. of'twosubstantially independent frames including a forward motor frame or section 41. and a. rearward machinery frame or section- 42', the. two. frames or sections 4L and 42' being removably connected together as.

by machinescrews orbolts, Removably attached to therear. en'd of-"themachinery frame or section 42 is a gummer or cuttingsremoving mechanism. 43' which is optionally employed or omitted.

Extending forwardly from themotor frame or: section 4| isa kerf-cutting mechanism 44 including: an elongatedlcutter bar 45- which is of sub.- stantially standard construction, except for certain differences hereinafter pointed out, upon which there is mounted an: endless cutter chain 46 provided with removable and reversible cutter bits 41. Asisweil known, the shortwall type of mining machine: is. adapted to befed as a unit over the mine floor whilecutting. a kerf, the kerf being out by first; sumping; the cutter bar into thesolidcoal and; thenfeeding the: machine laterally or across the coal. face, all the while the kerft cutting: mechanismis in operation.v

To: effect the feeding of the mining machine as aunit, both' atualrerf cutting. speed and at a handling or higher speed and in reverse directions, the machine includes apair of feed cable or rope drums l8; and 4.9; mounted: on horizontal axes which are preferably in alignment; one on one side of'the machine, the other on the other, as clearly illustrated" in: Fig. 1 of the drawings.

It may also be noted that the overall height oryvertical dimension of the mining: machine is substantially equal to the diameter of drum. 48 01:19. andthe topofthedrum 48 or 49 is substantially atthe top of said frame 40.

Drums 48 and. 49 areprovided'with feed ropes or cables and 5t, respectively, which are adapted to be reeved about the sheaves'oi' similarright and lefthand: rear" sheave assemblies 52 and 53, respectively; and/or similar right and left hand front. sheave; assemblies 54. and respectively.

In; Fig. 1 of: the: drawings the machine is illustrated? with the ropesrSii. and 5| reeved about'the pulleys 52 and Bite-effecta: lateral feeding of the machine to the left, as. viewed from the rear thereof; or upwardas viewed trcm the drawings:

13y the mere expedient of reeving rope Eli about the sheave ofii'ront-assembly 54 and-reeving rope 5| about. the sheave of? sheave assembly 53 and making the necessary operating adjustments on the machine, it may be fed to the right, reversely of that illustrated in said Fig. l of the drawings.

By extending both of the feed ropes 50 and directly forwardly and to mine jacks, the machine may be fed forwardly and sumped into the solid coal. By extending the rope 50 rearwardly and around an auxiliary sheave 56, then laterally to a central sheave not illustrated but which is common on machines of this type, the machine can be pulled rearwardly away from the mine face and may be loaded onto a truck in a manner well understood in the operation of shortwall machines.

The shortwall mining machine illustrated is, of course, adapted to rest on and slide over the mine floor when in operation and the supporting surfaces of the machine are provided largely by four spaced hydraulic piston jacks or motors (when employed), those at the rear being designated 51 and those at the front being designated 58. These hydraulic jacks provide for adjusting the elevation of the cutter mechanism 44 or, in other words, the effective height of the machine and also provide for adjusting the inclination or tilt thereof on right angularly related axes relative to a horizontal plane.

Attention is now directed particularly to Fig. 3 of the drawings and to some of the machinery or gearing which is contained within the machinery section 42 which includes the drive gearing leading to the cutter chain 46 and to the drums 48 and 49, as well as other mechanism.

Extending from the motor section 4| into the machinery section 42 is the end of a hollow drive shaft 59 which is supported at its outer end on an anti-friction bearing 60 which in turn is supported on a web or integral bracket formed on the frame 42 which provides a substantially totally enclosing housing for the machinery or gears'therein.

Keyed adjacent the end of the shaft 59 is a pinion 6| which meshes with a larger pinion 52 keyed to a shaft 63 having an integral bevel pinion 64, the shaft 63 being mounted in spaced bearings within the housing or frame 42. Pinion 64 meshes with a large bevel ring gear 65, the hub of which is mounted in a roller bearing 66 carried in a bearing cup in a removable top plate 81 which is removably attached to the frame 42 and forms a part of the enclosure or housing provided thereby. The hub of ring gear 65 is also mounted on spaced needle bearings 58 by which it is mounted for free rotation on a vertical or upstanding shaft 69, to the bottom of which a drive sprocket 10 for the cutter chain 45 is provlded.

The drive shaft 59 extends through a hole in an elevated integral bottom plate H of the frame or section 42, which is preferably formed as a single steel casting, and is supported principally on a roller bearing 12 received in a removable cup which is attached to the bottom plate 1| as by machine screws.

Since the sprocket 10 is, of course, exposed to the atmosphere and is outside the enclosure provided by the enclosing frame or section 42, within which enclosure there is a considerable amount of lubricating oil, though it is not filled with oil, oil seals are provided to prevent oil leakage. First of all, there is a pair of oil seals 14 provided adjacent the opening through which shaft 69 extends and a ring 15 which preferably has a tight fit with the shaft 69. Lubrication for the bearing 12 is provided by an oil catcher l5 and a pipe 11 which leads by way of a passageway around the seals 14 to the bearing 12. Oil seals at the bottom of the bearing 12 between the bottom of the cup 13 and the sprocket 10 are provided by a piston ring 18, a felt packing 19 and a labyrinth type packing 80. Obviously, other forms of oil or grease packing may be employed for those illustrated and described.

From the above description it is evident that the shaft 59 is supported in the frame or section 42 by the bearing 12 at the bottom and by the combined actions of the top bearing 55 and the needle bearings 68 through the intermediary of the hub of ring gear 65. It is further evident from the above description that there is not a permanent or direct driving connection from the ring gear 65 to the shaft 69, but on the contrary the ring gear 65 is free to rotate on said shaft 69. To support the ring gear 65 on the shaft 69 against downward axial movement, there is a thrust ball bearing 8| interposed between a shoulder on the shaft 68 and the bottom of the hub of said gear 55.

Mounted concentric with the ring gear 65 and the shaft 69 and keyed onto the hub of said ring gear 65 is a bevel gear 82. Gears 65 and 82 therefore always rotate together and each is directly driven from the drive shaft 59 and always rotates with it.

At its bottom portion the gear 82 forms a driving portion of a jaw clutch and is provided with clutch dogs 33. Providing the driven portion of said clutch is a shiftable collar 34 having dogs adapted to be engaged with or disengaged from the dogs 83. Collar 84 is shiftable upwardly and downwardly on the shaft 59 and is splined or keyed thereto so that whenever it is driven, a driving relation is effected to said shaft 69. A bifurcated shipper 85 mounted on a rotary horizontal clutch shaft 85 is provided for operating the clutch 83-434, which clutch, obviously, is the clutch for effecting a driving or non-driving relation from the driving motor I54 to the kerf cutter chain 45.

Th operating shaft 86 is connected to be operated by an operating lever and handle 9| on each side of the mining machine so that the clutch for engaging and disengaging the cutter chain 46 may be operated from either side of the machine.

Attention is now directed particularly to Fig. 4 of the drawings and to an important relation of parts which makes for a machine particularly of the shortwall type having a minimum overall height and particularly, but not necessarily so, when a direct current type motor is employed. It is, of course, to be understood that the struc ture illustrated on opposite sides of the vertical plane dividing the machine in Fig. 4 i duplicated on the other side.

The direct current motor I54 disclosed is of the consequent pole type, there being four pole shoes, three of which are visible in said Fig. 4 of the drawings, which are the top and bottom consequent pole shoes I35 and IE1, respectively, and .the left hand main pole shoe I98. The four pole shoes I96, I97, I98 and its right hand duplicate are substantially equally spaced about the periphery of the rotor or armature I55 and, as illustrated, a vertical plane through the axis of the rotor |55 bisects the pole shoes I96 and I9! and a horizontal plane therethrough bisects the shoe I98 and its complement.

The shoes I96 and I 91 are removably bolted to top and bottom portions of the iron of the frame 4| which forms a magnetic field path for 11351162 flux .-.dev.elopedg.by: twoanompound.fieldzcoils 3:101? windingsrzzona. of which. is rseen 'at.-;I:9-9-.-'and nawhich iscwround zon a;main-;.pole 1296a. ..The;com-

plementaryi shoesz'andrmainipoles; one 40f. which .1; 866151 15133"! flflcand zfltgare removably." attached ;to ;the:-frame; 4 Ir'by. elongated bolts- 2 I: provided with appropriate clamping nuts.

i'zr-Betweeneeach. of. rth'enmainx; shoes: -I .98 and, the top. xshoeiatflfi is. a'imemovable :interpole 202:;re-

imovablyt attached; tU-it'he. frame 4 I: as "by? screws 1 1:ft'ially'equ'ally"spaced about the .periphery of the :rotorT I55, apassa'gewayflfifi istprovided iadjafiicenttxthe'"bottomand along each sidet of the :moror- I54',-th'e lateral'boundaries cf which...pas- :isageways are" determined ,.by1 guide. ribs I4 I Stated anotherway, the motor frameportion of the frameisection4l is provided withaxial or "longitudinally'extending lateral. or side recesses, Fadjacent each "side and bottom, which are. seen "at", 206. The motor'frame portion of saidframe section 4I isthat'portion thereof which provides the magnetic path for the flux developed by the [field windings I99. The "lateral limits or sides thereof may be'considered as. defined by the outside surfaces of the iron of frame 4I. towhioh the po1es'2ll0 areattached. l iiifIhese. passagewaysfiufi provide adequate-room for thecutter chain 46 and its bits 41 to travel about the cutter bar 45 as well as along the bottom side portions of the motor I54, as the tight and slack runs travel toward and from the drive sprocket 10, while at the same time making possible a machine of very low overall height since practically no additional height is required to accommodate the cutter chain, and consequently the height of the machine is determined almost entirely by the minimum height of the motor I54.

Concerning the particular relation which exists between the cutter chain 46 and the motor I54, as well as the guide means for the chain 46 along said motor, it is to be noted that the guide means for said chain 46 adjacent the frame of said motor I54 is provided by an elongated chain receiving groove 20'! on each side of the motor and adjacent the passageway 206. Each groove 29! has its inner and upper side walls, as viewed in Fig. 4, formed by the iron of the motor frame 4| and is provided with a removable L-shaped wear and retaining strip 208 which is rigidly attached to said frame M. The bottom Side wall of each groove 29! is provided by the upper surface of an arm of the cutter bar extension I89 and it is provided with a removable L-shaped wear and retaining strip 299 attached thereto.

The structure of the cutter bar extension I89 and its attaching tab I94 and screw I95 are claimed in my divisional application, Serial No. 290,160, filed May 2'7, 1952, now Patent No. 2,637,543, dated May 5, 1953.

Thus the frame 4| and the two branches of ft. the above :described relationv of parts includes .the

tafollozwing features;- 1 First; of.v all"; it is; to, -be. noted :abyssrefereme tm-Fig. 4 ,of;.;the.:;drawings;;that. a ch'orizontallplanethroughthe; topqor 'evenpthrough the center of the cutter chain 46 intersectsgthe bottom? of.;the;.rotor.al ;.and; in: fact is 1 entirely :above;:.thet bottom shoe; .I 91; :and is appreciably above:.:.ther. bottom .or IOWLGStlTzDOI'tlOIl 'of. the; arz' rcuateface. ofisaid.:shoe..:l 91*.which is adjacent the i"otor::wi55. "Furthermore, a. plane through the :bottomrside. wall of..the groove 201tor'through' the abottom .of ;ther;c'utte1: chain.;46, :passes. through the'shoe 'l 9trand is closely'adjacent to the bottom of the IOtOIZI'TOIZ'IBJmatUIG I55zandis. above the .bottommostcpoint". ofzcontactrhetweenxthe .shoe -3l S-Iyand the. iron of frame 4|.

'31 Statedtanother: way,,:.thei entire cutter .;chain 146,: as itjtravels "alongthe sides'ofsthe motor,.'l54, is:enti'rely abovetheziron formingithe. field structure. of; said; motor 'at.'.its.tbottom:;and isrentirely 3 0 (abovathe area of contactbetweenxthe .bottom' removable :shoe I 9T.andthemagnetictframe of. said motorr I54.. It is:.fur.thermore to:.:.be. noted;.that :xthe cutterchain 46 in traveling v.through'thetpasqsageways1or recesses 206' is located .below'... the

frame. of .the electric; motor. :For .examplagthe e reversely traveling runs of said chain 46:.traveling "through said. recesses or: passageways. i2 06 are located inwardly of uprightv planeszwhich' define thelatera-l orsiderlimits of'x..the .motor' frame. This is an important feature-pf. my invention. In some of "its broaderaspects, as ,definedin' the claim-s; some of the benefits of my .improvedcon- .struction. are: realized .so. .longas. at. least a part of thecutter chain 46 isinwardlyofsaidupright or vertical plane defining the lateral edges of the frame of the motor proper, particularly when this condition occurs concurrently with one in which at least a portion of said cutter chain 46 and its groove or guide 201 also passes throughahorizontal plane which intersects the rotor I55 or is within the limits defined by the topmost portion of the shoe I91, when it is present in the machine, and the bottommost portion of the surface which has contact with the bottom of said shoe I91, which surface, of course, constitutes the surface of the frame of the electric motor to which the shoe or pole I9! is removably attached. This surface as illustrated is arcuate in construction as is the face of the shoe I91, and the low point of said contacting surface of the bottom plate of the motor frame is directly below the axis of the motor shaft 59, or, stated another way, is in a vertical or upright plane which passes through the axis of the shaft 59 of said electric motor.

As previously mentioned, the motor I54 may be of the alternating current type and the frame illustrated is designed with this thought in mind. To this end, the rotor I55 will, of course,bewound as an alternating current rotor preferably of the induction type. The field structure will be of the alternating current type and include a plurality of stacked circular grooved laminations stacked on the axis of the rotor I55 and in the iron of the motor frame 4|. To accommodate this, the shoes I96, I91 and I98 are removed, as

are the coils I99 and 204, together with the interpoles 202. When this is done the slotted stator field discs may be inserted and have close contact with certain portions of the iron of the field or frame, particularly those where the shoes I96 and I91 are now shown, as well as having contact with the poles 200.

Obviously those skilled in the art may make various changes in the details and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims hereto appended, and I therefore wish not to be restricted to the precise construction herein disclosed.

A number of the features herein disclosed are disclosed and claimed in my co-pending applications Serial Nos. 642,862, now Patent No. 2,162,363; 674,293, now abandoned; 676,200, now Patent No. 2,638,332; 679,302, new Patent No. 2,441,495; and 679,303, now Patent No. 2,530,249.

Having thus described and shown an embodiment of my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A mining machine motor structure including a magnetic field frame, an armature mounted in said frame for rotation on a normally substantially horizontal axis, a pair of main field poles on, opposite sides of said motor having pole shoes adjacent said armature and having outwardly and upwardly inclined axes relative to the axis of said armature, top and bottom main pole shoes connected to said frame and located adjacent said armature and being located between said first named pole shoes, and cutter chain guide means on opposite sides of the bottom pole shoe the tops of which guides are in a plane above the bottom of the face of said bottom pole shoe, said guide means also being inwardly of normally vertical planes along the outer sides of said magnetic field frame.

2. A direct current mining machine four pole motor including two generally opposite main field poles having windings thereon, the axes of said poles being inclined from the motor axis upwardly and outwardly relative to a generally horizontal plane through said motor axis and making an angle of approximately 15 degrees with said horizontal plane and also including top and bottom main poles between said first two named poles and in a vertical plane through the axis of said motor.

3. A direct current mining machine four pole motor including two generally opposite main field poles having windings thereon, the axes of said poles being inclined from the motor axis upwardly and outwardly relative to a generally horizontal plane through said motor axis, and also including top and bottom main poles between said first two named poles and in a vertical plane through the axis of said motor.

ARTHUR L. LEE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 498,577 Schmid May 30, 1893 665,337 Merrick Jan. 1, 1901 1,208,826 Pedulla Dec. 19, 1916 1,532,176 Gauss Apr. 7, 1925 1,574,912 Lear Mar. 2, 1926 1,611,027 Hansen Dec. 14, 1926 1,742,178 Maxson Dec. 31, 1929 1,778,258 Jennings Oct. 14, 1930 1,805,800 Berger May 19, 1931 1,900,661 Peltier Mar. 7, 1933 2,153,703 Ullman 1 Apr. 11, 1939 2,225,666 Simmons Dec. 24, 1940 2,232,620 Meeks Feb. 18, 1941 2,320,307 Saville May 25, 1943 2,327,962 Drake Aug. 24, 1943 2,336,992 Lindgren Dec. 14, 1943 2,339,407 Horton et a1 Jan. 18, 1944 2,339,523 Sloane Jan. 18, 1944 2,349,311 Simmons May 23, 1944 2,359,422 Jeffrey Oct. 3, 1944 2,498,389 Bauroth Feb. 21, 1950 

